Common Ground
Summary
In the labyrinthine squalor of the city's underbelly, an unassuming factory girl, known only as 'The Kid,' navigates her existence, her most prized possession a flamboyant, almost monstrous hat, a beacon of defiance and individuality amidst the grime. Her path unexpectedly intersects with Judge Evans, a scion of rectitude and idealism, who has deliberately immersed himself in the tenement district, determined to dismantle a pervasive vice ring. Unbeknownst to Evans, the architect of this insidious network is none other than Mordant, the father of his fiancée, Doris. As Evans closes in, Mordant, a master manipulator aided by corrupt political forces, orchestrates a cunning frame-up. The Kid, a convenient pawn, is ensnared in a fabricated street solicitation charge and brought before Evans's court. Driven by an unwavering belief in humanity's inherent goodness, Evans offers a peculiar redemption: he dispatches The Kid and five companions to his pastoral farm for a three-month reprieve. Yet, Mordant's machinations persist, as he infiltrates the group with a 'woman of the streets,' armed with funds and a camera, tasked with compromising the upright judge. At the farm, The Kid stumbles upon the insidious plot to disgrace Evans. Initially conflicted, she is swayed by the conspirators' false promise that Evans, once freed from his engagement to Doris, would turn his affections towards her, a notion her nascent, innocent love compels her to accept. The ensuing scandal casts Evans into disgrace and illness, during which The Kid's selfless devotion blossoms into a profound, if unrequited, affection. Believing his melancholia stems from a lost love for Doris, The Kid, with a newfound moral clarity, compels her companions to confess the truth. This dramatic revelation, unveiled before the District Attorney, Mordant, Doris, and Evans, exonerates the judge. His illusion of love for Doris shattered, Evans recognizes The Kid's pure heart, declaring his profound love for her. She is then entrusted to a 'competent woman' for a year of refinement, a period marked by monthly photographic updates chronicling her metamorphosis, both sartorial and spiritual. At the culmination of this transformative year, Evans claims his refined, yet inherently simple, savior, solidifying a bond forged in adversity and redeemed by unwavering devotion.
Synopsis
The Kid, a product of the slums, is employed at an artificial flower factory, as an expert "slipper-on." She possesses a monstrosity of a hat which is the envy of her companions wherever it appears, and she loves it. Judge Evans, a young man of unapproachable character, takes up his residence in the tenement district in order to unearth the man at the head of the vice ring composed of social and political parasites. In reality, he is the father of Doris Mordant, to whom Evans is engaged. Realizing that he must "get" the Judge or be ruined himself, Mordant, assisted by unscrupulous politicians, arranges a plot in which the Kid (whom the Judge has discovered in the tenement where he himself lives), evidently accosts a man on the street. She is taken into Judge Evans' court and to prove his assertion that "there is some good in all of 'em" the Judge tells the Kid to select five companions and he will send them all to his farm for three months. Mordant frames up a scheme to send with them a woman of the streets, and provides her with money and a camera. At the farm, the Kid discovers the girls plotting to secure a compromising picture of the Judge and the woman, but they persuade her to keep still by telling her they will "queer" Evans' engagement to Doris and then he will turn to her, and the Kid's love is so great, she finally acquiesces. Following his trial and disgrace, the Judge falls ill and the Kid cares for him. He learns to love the child of the slums, and her devotion to him is as pitiful as it is sincere. The Kid believes the Judge is pining for Doris, and with her companions, whom she forces into telling the truth, goes to the District Attorney's office and before Mordant, Doris, Evans and others, makes a clean breast of the while affair. Evans' love for Doris is dead and he turns to the Kid, declaring his love. She is taken to the home of the competent woman for one year. Every month the Judge receives a photograph which shows the metamorphosis of both hat and girl. At the end of the year Evans goes to claim as his own the girl who saved him from ruin, and finds her the embodiment of refinement and simplicity.
